OPINION:
Special counsel Robert Mueller is going after a group in Washington. They have one single crime. They are Trump Republicans.
If the average person listens to what is coming from the special counsel’s office, the only victims of alleged Russian election interference were Democrats. The facts speak otherwise. Buried in the reports coming out of Washington are the interesting tidbits that someone (presumably the Russians) also tried to hack the Republican email systems.
The Republicans had better security.
Yet there is not a mention of this from the special counsel. His indictment of 12 Russians, who will never see the inside of an American courtroom, talks only of hacking of the Democrats.
Interestingly enough, the server they allegedly hacked is the same server the Democratic National Committee refused to turn over to the FBI for analysis.
Mr. Mueller’s prosecution team is made of mostly Democrats. Many of them gave to either Barack Obama’s campaign or Hillary Clinton’s campaign or both. He does not have a single prosecutor who contributed to Donald Trump’s campaign.
Paul Manafort is the current poster child for the partisan prosecution. He currently sits in solitary confinement in a Virginia jail, awaiting trial. He is facing charges for violation of the Foreign Agent Registration Act. Interestingly, in the past 50 years, only seven people have been charged with that statute. That was until Robert Mueller came along. In the last few months, three more have been. And guess what? They are all Trump Republicans.
If this whole partisan witch hunt did not stink to high heaven as it is, Mr. Mueller’s latest efforts are the reason why this partisan prosecution should be shut down.
Mr. Manafort allegedly helped the pro-Russian government of Ukraine in 2012. He was actually a go-between for the European Center for a Modern Ukraine and the Podesta Group. The Podesta Group was a Democratic lobbying firm based in Washington and headed by Tony Podesta. Tony Podesta is the brother of John Podesta, who ran Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Mr. Mueller could certainly indict Tony Podesta for the same offenses he has indicted Paul Manafort for. But instead, he has offered Tony Podesta immunity against Mr. Manafort. The 69-year-old Manafort sits in a jail, facing a potential life sentence if he is convicted, and someone who potentially has the same culpability is getting a pass.
Why?
Because Tony Podesta is a Democrat.
Perhaps the most appalling part of this is the silence coming from the Republican Party. There are a few Republicans who are calling for the end of Mr. Mueller’s partisan witch hunt, but they are the exception. Most are silent. There are a few rabid Never Trumpers, such as Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, who are vocal in their opposition to President Trump.
The dirty secret is that there are a lot of Republicans in Washington who don’t support Mr. Trump. There are a lot of Republicans who want to see Donald Trump out of office. There are a lot of Republicans who want to see Donald Trump fail. There are a lot of Republicans who give lip service to conservatism but do not want to drain the D.C. swamp.
For the Republicans who want Donald Trump to fail, they should remember that if it were not for Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton would be president and the Democrats would probably control the Senate.
But then again, there are some Republicans who would rather just fail.
Unfortunately for America, if the Republicans fail, so does the nation.
• Judson Phillips is the founder of Tea Party Nation.
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